NHL Veteran Sam Gagner Joins AHL Senators On Tryout: Could He Help Ottawa?

Sam Gagner's played more than 1,000 NHL games for the Oilers, Red Wings, Canucks and other teams. He's in action with the Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate on a professional tryout.

Sam Gagner was released from his tryout, but will he play again in the NHL?

Longtime NHL center Sam Gagner is back playing professional hockey.

Gagner, 35, agreed to a professional tryout with the Belleville Senators, the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators.

The London, Ont., native captained Team Canada at the Spengler Cup this winter, recording an assist in three games as the Canadians lost in the semifinal. Gagner also tried out for the Carolina Hurricanes in training camp but did not sign a contract.

The AHL Senators say Gagner's expected to play for them Friday in front of a home crowd as they face the back-to-back Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears.

Gagner has had four AHL stints during his 17 NHL seasons. He's been traded five times. But he has continued to find ways to add value to an NHL lineup. He's played 1,043 NHL games as a result, recording 197 goals and 332 assists for 529 points.

The Edmonton Oilers selected Gagner sixth overall in the 2007 NHL draft, and Gagner joined the organization three different times. After playing his first seven seasons with Edmonton, he played 25 games for them in 2019-20 and another 28 for them last season, recording five goals and 10 points in his latest stint.

Gagner's also played for the Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets. His career-high 50 points in a season came with Columbus in 2016-17 despite averaging 13:43 in ice time.

The pro hockey veteran has 18 goals and 38 assists in 71 career AHL games split between the Bakersfield Condors, Toronto Marlies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He also won a gold medal at the 2007 world juniors and a silver medal at the 2008 World Championship.

Since 2022, Gagner has ramped up his Muskoka Hockey school in Bracebridge, Ont., which has trained John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Taylor Hall, Brandon Montour and more NHL players during the summer.

Analysis: Could He Join The Ottawa Senators?

Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris is out with an upper-body injury for at least the weekend, but the squad ranks 25th in goals-for per game (2.73).

Rookie center Zack Ostapchuk has one goal and four points in 34 games with the NHL squad this season. Middle-six center Shane Pinto and center option Ridly Greig have 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The ultimate goal with Gagner's AHL tryout was not announced. But should Gagner have a promising tryout with Belleville and convince the Ottawa Senators he's worth signing for the rest of the season in hopes of improving their depth scoring, the challenge will be clearing cap space for him. They currently have about $1.7 million in space because goaltender Linus Ullmark is on long-term injured reserve. They will first need to make space for Ullmark when he returns from injury, as they're currently using about $1.4 million of their extra LTIR space.